School board unanimously adopts policy tweaks, changes SRO report language to 'positives and challenges'

The Stoughton Area School District Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt several policy updates after amending language in the School Resource Officer (SRO) policy to replace the informal phrase “glows and grows” with “positives and challenges.”

The board debated how much detail to require in SRO reporting. Board members said they want regular end‑of‑year reports that reflect SRO activities and recommendations but were concerned that overly prescriptive data requests could shift SRO time from proactive school presence into administrative work. A work group and board members urged a collaborative approach to determining what data are practical to collect.

Mia Croyo moved to amend the proposed SRO policy language by deleting “glows and grows” and inserting “positives and challenges.” The amendment was seconded and passed on a roll‑call vote; subsequent approval of the policies as amended also passed unanimously. The board clerk conducted a roll call in which each listed member recorded a “yes.”

Board members said the revised policy requires an annual report that "shall reflect on activities conducted through the year and shall include recommendations for the upcoming year," and it clarifies that the board may request additional updates, reports, or data as needed. Supporters said that structure preserves the board’s oversight while allowing the SRO program to evolve and for staff and the SRO to collaborate on feasible data collection.

President Jill Patterson closed the item by recording action items and next steps: work‑group followup on SRO data, staff and SRO consultation about feasible reporting, and re‑evaluation later if the board wants more specific metrics.

The vote records in the transcript show the amendment and the final approval were adopted by roll call with all board members voting yes.